


Fenders: Holiday Customs

by scarletcougar



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: M/M, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-12-03 13:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletcougar/pseuds/scarletcougar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yule gift prompt: Anders teaches Fenris about Anderfels or Fereldan holidays, customs & traditions. They start one of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fenders: Holiday Customs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cypheroftyr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cypheroftyr/gifts).



“Must you be so dour?” asked Anders who walked with a slight bounce in his step, looking from one market shop to the next. This market had permanent store fronts which were decorated with holly and pine and various colored ornaments. He loved the festive feel.

“I’m cold. Everyone is loud. And it is crowded.” Fenris glared at Anders, “You know I hate being touched by strangers.”

Anders steered them away from the crowded street over to an inn. It too was decorated, and had carols being sung from a stage in the main dining room. “It is Yule, the longest night of the year. Everyone is getting ready to celebrate the long cold night. We should celebrate too!”

“Bah! Why celebrate a time that it stays darker than any other time and colder than any other time of the year?”

Anders smothered his snicker as he knew laughing at Fenris would only end poorly. “It is not the coldest night of the year, Fenris. Just the longest. People in Fereldan celebrate it as a time of families getting together and exchanging gifts.”

“I have no family.” The flat statement had been spoken quietly.

“Me neither,” Anders reminded Fenris. “But we have each other.”

Inside the inn, the smells of rich venison wafted to them. Candles lit all over the room casting visual warmth, as well as the physical warmth from the two fireplaces. This place was also very crowded. Fenris almost backed out of it.

Sensing this Anders turned to him, “Why don’t you go sell the things we collected while I get us a room? We can celebrate in our room away from the crowds. There are other Yule holiday customs I think you might prefer.” He watched Fenris nod and slink back to the market. He then sought the inn keeper and arranged for a room on the top floor. Instead of retreating to it right away, he snuck out to one of the nearby shops and bought Fenris a book on lore, holiday lore and a boring one of the Laws of King Alistair. He hurried back and arranged for hot baths in their room and shared meals. The baths were prepared while he arranged on the desk their steaming bowl of stew and covered the fresh bread so it would not stale while he waited. He cast a freezing spell into a bucket of water where he kept a jug of his surprize beverage chilled. Lastly he lined candles in the window. The small fireplace within the room was already very warm, but he added another log to it because he knew Fenris felt the cold far more easily than he did.

Fenris arrived just as Anders verified the baths. He dropped his pack hard on the floor by the door and shrugged out of armor, grumbling about the snow and the cold wet feeling of his clothes the entire time. Anders kept his back turned as Fenris stripped and stepped behind one of the screens to sink with a sigh into the hot water. “Anders. This room is… opulent compared to what we usually take. Can we afford this?”

Anders stripped and slipped into the other screened off bath. “If you sold our items, then yes, we most certainly can. It is Yule, and I figured you would appreciate something fancy this time of year.”

“I do not celebrate this cacophony.” Fenris scowled at the floor as the merriment could be heard through it four whole floors up, albeit muffled.

Anders smiled with amusement knowing the smile could not be seen. “I know. I meant I thought you would appreciate something higher class as it will also be far more quiet and private. All the cheaper spaces are packed like Darktown.” He heard Fenris groan and curse in Tevinter something undignified about Darktown.

Fenris amended, “I… I do appreciate it, mage. Thank you.” He was out and dried and dressed long before Anders. He paced the well-polished floor, enjoying the smoothness under his bare feet, as well as the warmth. Oh how he hated the boots. Hated the snow that managed to get in through the tops. Hated when the soft cotton socks got soaked. Then, with a glance over his shoulder to be sure he would not be caught indulging (as if he would get punished as he would by Danarius for this), he stepped onto the thick fur rug by the fireplace and wiggled his toes in its softness. He retreated to the desk as he heard Anders drying off and dressing behind the screen.

Anders stepped out, hair damp and tied back, clothes clinging to a somewhat dried body, and gave Fenris a very warm smile, “You are most welcome, Fenris. In the Anderfels, when I was little, we used to hold vigil on the longest night. We would light candles and take turns guarding them till the sun came up. The candles were always kept in the windows to be a beacon to anyone lost on the darkest night. No one should be alone on this night.” He lit all the candles in the window. “And since I had spent a year in solitary… I can’t bear to go through this night alone or in the dark anyways.”

Anders gathered the bucket and motioned for Fenris to bring the tray of food. They sat, of all places, on the floor, on the soft fur rug by the fire. “We would tell stories, make crafts, feast, and just share the quiet with people we care about. I like the fun and festive colors and songs and gifts of the Fereldans, but I also like the quiet privacy of the Anderfels Yule custom.” He lifted the covers off the food and they shared the stew between them, dipping the hot fresh bread in it to sop up all the liquid.

“Oh! And another Anderfels custom that I really think you will like is wassail.” Anders had to explain it a little as Fenris had no idea what that was. “It is a sweet milkshake. Mmmm… Spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and vanilla…”

Fenris interrupted, “What insane custom is that to drink a half frozen beverage in freezing cold weather?”

Anders poured some from the jug into a mug and warmed it with his magic. “You drink it warm. I just didn’t want it to sour while you were out. And I didn’t even get to the best part of the wassail ingredients.”

Fenris was already taking a curious though cautious sip when his eyes lit up and shot Anders an unspoken question.

Anders grinned broadly. “Rum.” He sipped his own mug to appreciate the taste, but knew Justice would not allow him much.

They sat quietly, enjoying the fire and digesting their excellent meal for several hours. Then Anders moved the tray and refilled the mugs with the wassail. Maybe Justice could allow him just one more. It would not get him drunk to have two. He returned to see Fenris looking so strangely that Anders grew concerned. It was what? Bashful? Fenris?

“Here,” Fenris thrust out his hand. In it was a small box with a ribbon.

“You… got me a gift?”

“If you do not want it…”

Anders plopped down like a child and plucked the gift from Fenris’ hand. He undid the bow trying to ignore the fluttering butterflies in his stomach that should totally be dormant or dead by now. He lifted the lid. “Ohhh… Fenris.”

Fenris reached up and uncertainly touched Anders’ right earlobe. “You have a hole there, I thought you might have once had an earring and might…” He squirmed a little. “I thought…” he wasn’t sure what to say. He was terrible at flattery.

“I love it!” Anders held up the small gold loop with a small green bead. “I’ll be right back.” He headed behind the screen to the bath for a cloth and the small mirror that was there. He bit his lip as he forced the earring into the mostly closed hole in his lobe and promptly healed it with magic, then wiped any blood that the act might have caused. He headed to his backpack for salve and the gifts he got for Fenris and returned. “How does it look?”

Fenris watched Anders like an unblinking cat. The earring catching his eye and the corner of his mouth curled. “Good,” he answered.

Anders placed his gifts in Fenris’ lap. Fenris was not really into gifts, but Anders knew from Hawke how much he liked to have very special things just for him that he could call his very own. Anders flopped on the fur rug to watch as Fenris opened each book and found his name in the front.

_For my dearest friend, Fenris.  
~Shon Dalenhauften of the Anderfels_

This Fenris stared at a long while. Not only had Anders managed to secretly find him books he would like, something new to read now that he was uncomfortably resorting to reading mage texts and inn menus. But Anders gifted him with his full and true name. He knew from his time with Danarius that names had power and no one gave away their true full names lightly. “You… trust me this much?” He asked softly.

“I do,” Anders confirmed, wishing he could convey more in those two words, if only Justice would allow. He fiddled with the earring in his ear smiling absently. “Will you read the lore book out to me?”

“We… we could have our own Yule custom,” Fenris almost shyly suggested. “I will read to you. And you... sing for me.”

“I like this plan.”

Fenris dropped his eyes down to the pages of the lore book and began to read aloud.


End file.
